Cytochrome P450s Are Essential for Insecticide Tolerance in the Endoparasitoid Wasp Meteorus pulchricornis (Hymenoptera: Braconidae)

Simple Summary P450s are involved in the detoxification process in insects; however, less attention has been paid for their roles in parasitoid wasps. Here, we identified 28 P450s from the previous constructed transcriptome dataset of Meteorus pulchricornis and validated their expression patterns under insecticides exposure. Furthermore, we silenced CYP369B3 in adult wasps and demonstrated that the knocking down CYP369B3 significantly increased of the mortality of adult wasps when they were exposed to each chemical insecticide, phoxim, cypermethrin, and chlorfenapyr, respectively. The present study provides a theoretical base for functional research on P450 genes in parasitoid wasps. With the widespread application of insecticides, parasitoid wasps may also be under risk when exposed to insecticides directly at their free-living stages. The endoparasitoid wasp Meteorus pulchricornis is the predominant natural enemy of many lepidopteran pests, such as Spodoptera litura and Helicoverpa armigera. The cytochrome P450 monooxygenases constitute a ubiquitous and complex superfamily of hydrophobic, haem-containing enzymes. P450s are involved in the detoxification of many xenobiotics. However, their exact roles in the tolerance mechanism in parasitoids toward insecticides has received less attention. Here, 28 P450 genes in M. pulchricornis were identified from a previously constructed transcriptome dataset. These P450 genes belonged to CYP2, -3, and -4, and mitochondrial clans. Subsequently, eight candidate MpulCYPs were selected from four CYP clans to validate their expression patterns under phoxim, cypermethrin, and chlorfenapyr exposure by qRT-PCR. The results showed that all three insecticides had significant effects on the expression of MpulCYPs. To further study the function of P450s, CYP369B3 was silenced, and its expression levels of CYP369B3 were significantly decreased. Survival analysis indicated that after dsRNA injection, the mortality rate of wasps was significantly increased when M. pulchricornis females were exposed to insecticides compared to control groups. Our findings provide a theoretical base for elucidating the mechanism of insecticide tolerance and promote functional research on P450 genes in parasitoid wasps.

Automated summary

This study identified 28 P450 genes in the parasitoid wasp Meteorus pulchricornis and validated their expression patterns under insecticide exposure. Silencing of CYP369B3 significantly increased the mortality of adult wasps exposed to chemical insecticides, providing a theoretical base for understanding insecticide tolerance mechanisms in parasitoid wasps.